MacArthur Park

MacArthur Park is a park in Los Angeles, California. The park was founded during the 1880s as "Westlake Park", but it was renamed on 7 May 1942 in honor of the World War II general Douglas MacArthur. The surrounding area was nicknamed the "Champs-Elysees of Los Angeles", with luxury hotels being built around the park. The park became known for violence after 1985, however, with prostitution, drug dealing, shootouts, and drownings becoming commonplace; there were 30 murders in 1990. When the lake was drained in 1973 and 1975, hundreds of handguns and other firearms were found disposed of in the lake. On 1 May 2007, a rally calling for US citizenship for undocumented immigrants was held at the park, leading to melee between the protesters and the LAPD. That same year, however, paddle boats returned to the lake, a part of the revitalization efforts; unfortunately in 2010, the boathouse was closed, the paddle boats removed, and the house torn down in 2014. The park tragically lost its former glamor acquired by its once-beautiful appearance and the poetic homage paid to it in the 1968 song "MacArthur Park", but post-ironic hipsters began to move into the area during the 2010s, with many houses being rented out by Wolfs International Realty as a result of gentrification.